Early
by SSJViper
Summary: Ichigo gets an epic head start on his journey of protecting his family. Only, it is just after his mother dies.


A small boy, looking to be around the age of seven, turned about on his bed. He seemed to be having a bad dream, or may be something of the sort of a nightmare. His mouth opened, seemingly about to let out a scream in a panic. But, just as suddenly as it opened, it snapped shut. He then returned to his peaceful rest, seemingly tranquil once more.

His eyes slowly opened. He appeared confused, even a little fearful. He had felt some feeling wash over him, a sort of comforting feeling that he only felt while his mother was nearby. He turned his head side to side, trying to see if his mother was in his room. She was not. But suddenly, he lost focus of that. He heard a voice emanating from deep within himself… but it was not his own.

"Sleep, Ichigo. All will be well, when you wake."

Then, the voice was gone.

 _'No. NononononoNONONO! How did this happen! WHY!'_

Ichigo's morning had been uneventful, and he had gone about in his usual routine. Go to his parents room, kiss his mom on the cheek, see his baby sisters, shower and eat breakfast. It had all been so plain and normal. Then he'd gone to karate practice, also like an average day, and cried a bit because Tatsuki punched way too hard.

But after that… it all dichotomised.

He and his mother walked down that same sidewalk as they always did, but this time he saw a girl on the side of the riverbank. She looked like she was in a panic, and she seemed to be falling.

What if she couldn't swim? She would drown! He needed to save her!

So from his mother's grasp, his small hand slipped out. He took off, all the way down to the river, but before he could get close to the girl, she stopped. She, miraculously,had saved herself from death by watery suffocation. She turned around… and smiled.

It was a terrifying sight.

The smile, which could be so innocent, so childlike in its precious nature, had been twisted into a malicious, crazed grin. On a small girl's face, such as this one, it was disgusting and horrifying.

He hadn't even seen it coming. One moment he had been there, standing on a patch of green grass, scared to death, and the next, he was lying on a different patch of grass. His mother's bright orange locks cascaded over his face and blocked hers out. She let out a strangled breath, and unknown to him, coughed out some blood.

"Ichigo…Promise mommy something, okay?"

Her voice, such a beautiful thing, had been so very weak in that moment.

"Mommy? Are you okay?"

"Take care—take care of your sisters for me? And remember something, my baby. My sweet, sweet little protector. I'll always love—love you."

Her voice came out strained, gasping after every word she spoke.

"I'll always be here Ichi-chan. Right here. So whenever you need to talk to me, just think to this place, okay?"

Her voice was fading, like the light of a late sunset.

"Goodbye, my baby."

She stopped moving.

And suddenly, they were both moved to the side. In front of him, he saw a green silhouette. A man with a bucket hat, he realized. In front of the green-man, there was a monster.

Something that could only be formed in the realm of nightmares, created in the most maleficent of depths. A being that could only be described as disgustingly, disturbingly ugly. It's head was malformed, more gigantic than its entire, pale white body. A grinning mask formed over its head, seemingly made of delicate porcelain. It seemed to have come from the deepest, darkest corners of hell, if there was one. From out of its strikingly humanoid back came tendrils of...something. The girl whom he had seen grinning at him hung limply from one of its tendrils, like some sort of puppet. The monster sprung at its opposition, the only thing keeping it from the orange haired child whom he had wanted to chew up so badly.

Ichigo payed not a shred more of attention to this. Because all of it, every single ounce that he contained, went straight to his still mother. And he knew, by the gaping hole her side contained, and the unbeating heart that she held, that she would get up. Ever again.

Then, as everything in his perspective field of vision blacked out, he fell into deep unconsciousness.

He was inside a city. It was a magnificent, glorious urbanized center for a population to live in. He did not see a single person in the sky-high, glass buildings which dominated the area. And he was sideways, standing on the side of one of the said man made objects.

But he was not falling.

So he stood still, and waited. If he moved, he might just take whatever was holding him to the surface of the skyscraper and break it. Many buildings were breaking down, falling all the way to the void which was thousands of feet away. The sky, if it could even be called that, was slowly turning darker, something seemingly reciprocating his dark mood.

Suddenly, a man appeared. A flagpole, something that had appeared with him, stood under him. The man had scruff of stubble, with a black visor and long, wavy hair to go with. His entire body was cloaked in black. He started talking, their silence having been long enough for him. He asked him a single question. One that would shake foundations of the very world that they knew to the core.

"Ichigo Kurosaki... Would you like power?"

The question fell flat, as said strawberry haired child seemed to be contemplating something else. The man seemed to be nice enough, but he knew he had to be careful of strangers.

"...Who are you? What is this place? My mommy told me to be careful of strangers."

The man's deep voice came out again.

"Child...I will tell you my name later, if you can hear it. All I will tell you right now, is that I am someone very closely linked to you. Ichigo… did you hear the words spoken by your mother, spoken to you just a few moments ago?"

Ichigo was puzzled. How did this man know this? Where the heck were the both of them? But, putting these thoughts aside, he decided that he would answer the gruff man.

"...She said—she said to protect my sisters. And she said she loves me, forever. But then after that… she—she died."

The child broke down, remembering the scarring scene.

"Then, child, do you believe you have the power to protect? Can you stand up to protect your sisters? With you current level of power?"

"I—I don't know! I'm a failure! I can't! No! ...I'm too weak."

He sounded broken. Not at all what he should have sounded like, being the normal bright and cheery boy that he was.

"Kurosaki Ichigo. I will offer you a chance. A chance that, if you take it, you will be able to grow strong enough to protect your sisters. I will give you my name. Put your faith upon my shoulders, young one. Now listen, as I speak these words."

Ichigo felt something inside of him. It was telling him to trust this man. To listen.

"You are not weak. But you are not strong either. But you can become strong. To protect… you must have the will to become strong. You, Kurosaki Ichigo, have the potential to become anything. To transcend boundaries like no other man. All you have to do, is accept this power. Your power."

Ichigo looked surprised. But, remembering his mother's final words, he spoke. Courage welled up within himself, and he decided.

" I accept. To keep my sisters safe, I will do anything and everything I can."

The man let a hint of a smile show on his face. Then, with a voice that could not be interrupted because of the sheer force of it, he spoke his last few remaining words for the boy.

"Good. Now, remember this moment, and make it yours. Like your mother's love for you is eternal, so will your power be, for I am always with you."

A blue aura manifested around Ichigo, spiraling around his form.

"Kurosaki Ichigo. Heed me, and abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate. Shake this world with your power. Crush your enemies, and let not a single person harm anyone you care for."

Ichigo's head nodded, a determined fire lighting in his eyes.

"Call my name, my wielder."

The fire grew.

"Tear Heaven asunder with this blade! Shout it out, Kurosaki Ichigo! My name is—"

The fire became an inferno.

"ZANGETSU!"

The aura around Ichigo grew taller, and taller, and even taller, until it could not go through the heavens any more. It blasted from where Ichigo laid, battering everything around him by generating winds.

Then, swaying slightly, he stood. Garbed in a black shihakusho, his back was straight, confident. One handedly, he carried a white oversized cleaver knife.

His eyes opened. They glowed blue, and his aura still surrounded him, making him seem as if he were a God.

His eyes locked with the monster's. In a flash, he was gone.

In the next, he appeared behind it, cleaver knife outstretched.

Blood flew everywhere.

The monster could not be allowed to hurt anymore. He made it so.

Then, he blacked out, aura and blade fading along with his consciousness.

Don't own anything Bleach.

So! I always wanted to write a bleach fic. I don't know if I'll continue, and I don't have an outline for this story anyway. If you want this to continue, tell me somehow.

I wanted to make Ichigo epic, but I don't think I did well enough. I might edit this later, whatever. He his really young though, so I can't feasibly make him a natural disaster or anything :( Not yet, at least.

Also love fluffy stuff. So the plot(if there going to be one) might be focused around that, if there are no battle scenes or plot development.

That's about it, I think. SSJViper, out!


End file.
